Okay, so here's the video recap. I ask that you please look at EACH video and read my comments for EACH video (not just your own!), so we can learn like we've learned from each other throughout this semester.
Overall, I thought we did very, very well on this assignment, especially considering it was a first-time video in this class. Lots of good B-roll, good story flows, ect. Certainly some things that can be tweaked, but that's to be expected.
Let's look for what worked and what didn't and what we could borrow for the next time and what we need to avoid doing again.
BTW, unless you received an email from me noting a specific grade, your grade for this exercise was a 4.0, with it equaling two practice stories in final grade weight. (Future assignments will be evaluated and graded much more specifically based on execution and will be of higher grade weight, though).
Here we go:
Jocelyn T: LOTS of great B-roll and medium/tight/establishing shots here, which is what we want. Video is a visual medium; we need to show what people are talking about, and not just show people talking. But we don't need to have the source saying their name as the caption already IDs the person for us. To do both is redundant, and using the caption lets us save story audio time for substance and not identification.
Michael D.: Overall a nice job, but for B-roll we were stuck on doing just medium shots; we could have used some tight shots as well (fingers strumming the guitar strings, fingers typing on the keyboard, eyes glancing at the laptop screen) to mix in and show different perspectives.
Tony B.: A strong mix of tight, medium, establishing and re-reestablishing A-roll (interview subject and main action) and B-roll shots here. Note how the first head shot doesn't follow the rule of thirds but the second does; doesn't the latter look better? There is also natural sound the compliments but doesn't overwhelm the interview subject's voice.
Alexis G.: Good use of still pics as B-roll, but a big problem: unless you have written permission from Miley Cyrus's agent to use her song, you are committing a violation of federal copyright law! No, it's not enough to cite them; you need permission. That goes for just about anything we find on the Internet: pictures, music, videos, etc. (Hyperlinks are okay because you are directing traffic back to the original site.) Also, make sure your subjects are facing a light source (a lamp, the sun, etc.) and are NOT backlit, and try to keep sound levels steady.
Nicole B.: Again, a good sampling of medium and tight shots, but not enough variety in terms of content. The office shots are a bit repetitious; ideally, we would want to see B-roll of the treatment program itself being performed. We're also missing a title slide or narration or a firm opening statement from a source to let people know what we're getting into.
Allia McD.: Strong variety of B-roll in terms of content and medium/tight shots. But we don't need to have the source saying their title as the caption already IDs the persons' titles for us. To do both is redundant, and using the caption lets us save story audio time for substance and not identification.
Alan W.: Don't be too fast with B-roll snippets. The first one comes and goes so quickly the viewer barely has any time to absorb the content. Give a shot three or four seconds, at least, before you move on.
Kayleigh R.: Once again, a nice range of B-roll showing many of the different things people are talking about, as they talk about them. That's what B-roll is for, showing people while the subject is telling people about what they're seeing.
Yujin O.: Here, we open with B-roll, which is kind of a video version of an anecdotal or alternate lede. That's fine. The shooting, editing, B-roll and sound bytes are all solid and well-organized here.
Mary S.: Lots to like here, but sound could be better. Really watch for spaces with echoes or distracting background noise, and avoid those areas. Use interview areas where sounds are unobstructed and clear.
Honda C.: We see some wide shots here, which are fine. Again, a good mix of head shots and B-roll.
Ben C.: More great examples of B-roll and wide/medium/tight shots (with probably more wide shots that many previous examples, which is okay).
Jingjing N.: In the same way we wouldn't lede a story by just saying, this is a story, we probably should lede with the title of what our story is about -- " what are people doing this semester at MSU?" -- rather than just "JRN 200." Let's also make sure the sound level can clearly be heard by the audience. Good variety of different shots for B-roll and good natural sound, like the sizzling sound with a cooking segment.
Austin G.: Nice mix of still shots and video for B-roll here. Nice framing of interview subjects using the rule of thirds.
Britney-Ann V.: Great B-roll subjects; what's more animated than dogs? But less panning and zooming and more steady shots taken from different angles and distances (tight, medium and wide) like with some of the other video examples here. We're also missing attribution within the video segments in the form of name and title captions, as well as a lede caption or narration. Again, look at some of the other videos for examples. Let's also get tighter talking head shots -- armpits to an inch above their heads -- and get the mic closer to their mouths. Good natural sound where the source shows (via B-roll) and tells (via sound bytes) and says (via nat sound).
Tony B.: A strong mix of tight, medium, establishing and re-reestablishing A-roll (interview subject and main action) and B-roll shots here. Note how the first head shot doesn't follow the rule of thirds but the second does; doesn't the latter look better? There is also natural sound the compliments but doesn't overwhelm the interview subject's voice.
Alexis G.: Good use of still pics as B-roll, but a big problem: unless you have written permission from Miley Cyrus's agent to use her song, you are committing a violation of federal copyright law! No, it's not enough to cite them; you need permission. That goes for just about anything we find on the Internet: pictures, music, videos, etc. (Hyperlinks are okay because you are directing traffic back to the original site.) Also, make sure your subjects are facing a light source (a lamp, the sun, etc.) and are NOT backlit, and try to keep sound levels steady.
Nicole B.: Again, a good sampling of medium and tight shots, but not enough variety in terms of content. The office shots are a bit repetitious; ideally, we would want to see B-roll of the treatment program itself being performed. We're also missing a title slide or narration or a firm opening statement from a source to let people know what we're getting into.
Allia McD.: Strong variety of B-roll in terms of content and medium/tight shots. But we don't need to have the source saying their title as the caption already IDs the persons' titles for us. To do both is redundant, and using the caption lets us save story audio time for substance and not identification.
Alan W.: Don't be too fast with B-roll snippets. The first one comes and goes so quickly the viewer barely has any time to absorb the content. Give a shot three or four seconds, at least, before you move on.
Kayleigh R.: Once again, a nice range of B-roll showing many of the different things people are talking about, as they talk about them. That's what B-roll is for, showing people while the subject is telling people about what they're seeing.
Yujin O.: Here, we open with B-roll, which is kind of a video version of an anecdotal or alternate lede. That's fine. The shooting, editing, B-roll and sound bytes are all solid and well-organized here.
Mary S.: Lots to like here, but sound could be better. Really watch for spaces with echoes or distracting background noise, and avoid those areas. Use interview areas where sounds are unobstructed and clear.
Honda C.: We see some wide shots here, which are fine. Again, a good mix of head shots and B-roll.
Ben C.: More great examples of B-roll and wide/medium/tight shots (with probably more wide shots that many previous examples, which is okay).
Jingjing N.: In the same way we wouldn't lede a story by just saying, this is a story, we probably should lede with the title of what our story is about -- " what are people doing this semester at MSU?" -- rather than just "JRN 200." Let's also make sure the sound level can clearly be heard by the audience. Good variety of different shots for B-roll and good natural sound, like the sizzling sound with a cooking segment.
Austin G.: Nice mix of still shots and video for B-roll here. Nice framing of interview subjects using the rule of thirds.
Britney-Ann V.: Great B-roll subjects; what's more animated than dogs? But less panning and zooming and more steady shots taken from different angles and distances (tight, medium and wide) like with some of the other video examples here. We're also missing attribution within the video segments in the form of name and title captions, as well as a lede caption or narration. Again, look at some of the other videos for examples. Let's also get tighter talking head shots -- armpits to an inch above their heads -- and get the mic closer to their mouths. Good natural sound where the source shows (via B-roll) and tells (via sound bytes) and says (via nat sound).
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